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eMOLT Update 2024-02-02
Weekly Update
This week, we’ve been busy prepping for the 2024 Northeast
Cooperative Research Summit down in Cape May next week. It should be a
great meeting with lots of discussions of interest to everyone engaged
in eMOLT.
Dr. John Wilkin who leads the Doppio modeling effort at Rutgers
will be presenting about how observations from commercial fishing
vessels are incorporated into his work
Samantha Alaimo, a PhD Student at Rutgers will present on how
cold pool stratification in the Mid-Atlantic Bight influences
commercially harvested species
Captains Rob Jarmol (F/V Christy) and Bill Bright (F/V Retriever)
will join Dr. Glen Gawarkiewicz (WHOI), Dr. Grace Saba (Rutgers), and
Dr. John Manderson (OpenOcean Research) on a panel discussing the
impacts of our changing climate on ecosystems and fisheries in our
region.
plus, lots of other presentations and panels focused on everything
from impacts of offshore wind development on fisheries to maintaining
fish health in live fish markets. George, Erin, and Huanxin are looking
forward to seeing many of you there.
For those of you who haven’t attended a Cooperative Research Summit
before, last year’s dual meetings in Providence, RI and Newport News, VA
are summarized in a new report available here.
Also, stay tuned for more information about 2025’s Summit which will be
held at a location TBD in Maine.
Drifter Update
The Students at Wellan Montesorri School (Newton Mass) are probably
wondering why their wooden
loggerhead turtle deployed by Jeff White, a lobsterman out of York,
Maine back in October, is now going around in circles south north of
Bermuda. It turns out that, on about Christmas Day, it got caught in a
“cold core ring” (~37 degrees north) and is still rotating this week as
seen in the animation of sea surface temperatures below. You can also
see at least four other drifters in this animation including one from
the Southern Maine Community College that is entrained in the actual
Gulf Stream and enters the frame on about 23 January 2024.

Bottom Temperature Forecasts
Northeast Coastal Ocean Forecast System (NECOFS)


Doppio Bottom Temperature Forecast

Announcements and Other News
On-demand lobster and Jonah crab gear testing is underway off
Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Science Center scientists are working
with commercial lobster vessels to test on-demand (ropeless) fishing
gear in state and federal waters normally closed to lobster and Jonah
crab fishing with static vertical lines. Testing in this area will occur
through April 30, 2024.

Because on-demand gear has no surface buoys, it won’t be visible at
the surface. To visualize the gear positions and orientations, mariners
can download and subscribe to the EdgeTech Trap Tracker app ($25) on the
Apple
or Google
Play app stores. For more information on this work, click here.
Mariners: There is a potential gear conflict area immediately west of
the Great South Channel in former Groundfish Closed Area 1. On-demand
gear in that area is set northwest to southeast in trawls approximately
1.5 nautical miles in length. If anyone accidentally tows up the
on-demand gear, don’t discard it. Hold onto the gear and contact our
Gear Research Team. Contact info can be found here.
All the best,
-George and JiM
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